I love fireworks. The spectacular manner in which they illuminate the sky, those booms you know are coming yet always surprise you. Fireworks are a special thing to be enjoyed. New Year’s Eve, 4th of July, Labor Day, festivals, concerts, or special events.
I do not enjoy them nightly for hours for weeks. Don’t.
The week before and after the 4th of July in the area that we live there are a plethora of nightly firework loving folks. Weekdays and weekends have been booms and sizzles coming from around us, hours on end. Our dog Bella gets completely freaked out. She tries to dig into anything she can to get away from the noise. We do everything we can to keep her comfortable from thunder vests, classical music, calming chews, fans, special space in a closet. The nightly fireworks have create a weeks of nightly torture for her.
If the fireworks were contained completely to the 4th (perhaps the night before and after) I would get it. My frustration lies with all the other days of the week. I realize I am venting in this blog today. The ongoing fireworks causes my dog distress and me distress. It also makes me think about how this impact individuals with PTSD from serving in the military, other traumas, other fur babies, people who have to get up early to go to work, ect. What about consideration for those folks?
As I thought about all of this the word consideration came to mind. It feels like the nightly, hours on end, fireworks are inconsiderate of others. Do I think these folks are intentional in causing distress? Nope. I just feel they are not considering others. Now that I have finished venting my frustration let’s get back to consideration.
Being considerate means that you have put some thought and feeling into how your actions impact someone else. It is showing thoughtfulness for another human. Too often there is a lack of consideration towards others. People are inconsiderate. Our needs, wants, desires come above anyone else. This is not at all like self care which it to take healthy positive actions for your mental and physical wellbeing. This is only being out for yourself.
Here is another example of inconsideration. A few months ago I went to my health club for a class. I tend to take classes as I work out harder when I am around others than on my own. I can easily talk myself out of fitness so I take classes to keep me accountable. I have parked in an area far away from the doors with minimal cars around as I was getting some healthy steps in too! When I came out from a class another car had parked so close to my car door I could not get in. There was no room to even walk to my door.It was raining and as I stood there pondering how to get in my car the driver came to the car and apologized for the parking. Her reason was that she was late to class.
Do I think her actions were intentional? Nope. Do I think she at that point in time was only thinking of herself and her needs? Yes. There have been times all of us, myself included, have taken actions that have been inconsiderate of others. All of us. Even though I live my life with the intention of kindness and caring I am not perfect. None of us are.
It seems like one action that gets people fired up is when a road is being reduced to one lane and letting people in. Many individuals DO NOT want to let the other cars in when they feel the other car has not merged lanes at the appropriate moment. Since when has any of us been judge and jury of when to merge. Why not just let the car in and feel good for doing something for someone else?
I believe we can change for the better. When we change for the better we feel empowered and more loving about ourselves and the world around us. Our ego and sense of self-importance can tell us that we need to look out for ourselves first. To park wherever we want, not share, take what we need for us without consideration for others. The ego is wrong. It gives us misinformation. It makes us feel unhappy in our hearts and in our minds.
There are times I battle my ego. It can be hard work. I do know that when I act out of thoughtfulness, empathy, consideration I always feel better about the person I am. Every time. It works like a charm.
Eeyore for Winnie the Pooh has a great about looking at consideration “A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference”. Eeyore is right!
So wonderful, amazing humans let’s stretch ourselves to be more considerate. Yep let’s stretch and grow. To put thought into the actions you take and how it could impact others. To apologize and have empathy for others. Share, open doors, let cars merge in your lane, and smile your glorious smile at others.. You never know what difference your action will mean to another person. You never know what difference your action will mean for yourself.
May your consideration be with you💖
